An angry grizzly bear at close range: Yellowstone River, Yellowstone National Park.

“A Trinidad woman was flown by helicopter late Friday to a hospital after she was mauled by a bear she tried to scare away from her house by clanging pots and pans.Denver Post May 20, 2012″

What to do about bears?

Sometimes banging pots and pans works. Obviously, sometimes not. It’s worked for me a couple of times but I guess I’ll rethink that particular strategy. You never know what’s going to just piss a bear off.

My co-worker has never seen a bear in the Colorado wild. A bear destroyed his tent and sleeping bag while he was out hiking a few years ago but as far as seeing an actual living breathing bruin. Zip. Nada. Zero.

So maybe he should hang out in the woods with me. Or not!

Bears appear in my life at weird and unpredictable times. They’re like phantoms. Now you see one. Now you don’t. Even when I’m looking right at one I have a hard time wrapping my brain around the fact of it.

Travel and Fitness Editor Kyle Wagner grew up in Pittsburgh and lived in Lake County, Ill., and Naples, Fla., before moving to Denver in 1993, where she reviewed restaurants for Westword before moving to The Denver Post in 2002. She considers the best days to be those that involve her teenage daughters and doing something outside, preferably mountain biking or whitewater rafting.

The pursuit of a healthier state through better living. The Denver Post's ColoradoFit blog features local experts on the latest fitness trends, active lifestyles and nutrition options in Colorado and beyond.